Drugs and Alcohol

After placing my items on the belt at a small grocery store in New Jersey, I was quite surprised to look up and see a teenage girl in front of me getting handcuffed by the police. Last summer the store was not selling alcoholic beverages. This year they are. The employee at the cash register was...
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Gary A. Emmett, M.D.

Thursday, May 16, 2013, 9:21 AM

We often hear marijuana isn’t that dangerous of a drug. In reality, regular use of marijuana may permanently damage a teen’s developing brain – and could lead to a reduction in IQ, other drug use, and mental health issues.
I heard a frightening and eye opening lecture by Dr. Sharon...
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Anna Nguyen, Healthy Kids blog Editor

Tuesday, May 14, 2013, 9:56 AM

We often think about talking to teens about underage drinking, but a newly launched public service announcement campaign tells parents that it's best to tell their kids about the dangers of underage drinking as early as age 9.
The “Talk. They Hear You” campaign from the Substance Abuse...
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Name the sport and it likely has a famous athlete who’s used performance enhancement drugs to win big. Now, with the recent headlines involving Lance Armstrong and doping, it’s the perfect opportunity to talk to our kids about what’s right and what’s wrong. Win or no win...
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Sari Harrar

Friday, December 7, 2012, 2:38 PM

By Sari Harrar
In one of the first studies of its kind, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing recently found that kids whose mothers were exposed to secondhand smoke were more likely to have behavior problems than kids whose moms avoided tobacco smoke during pregnancy.
It...
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Sari Harrar

Friday, November 16, 2012, 12:49 PM

By Rima Himelstein
They’re known as study drugs ... party drugs ... vitamin R, the smart drug, addy, a-bomb ...
Regardless of the slang or street names, they’re actually stimulants like ‘Ritalin’ and ‘Adderall’, which are commonly prescribed to treat attention...
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Sari Harrar

Friday, November 9, 2012, 6:00 AM

By Sari Harrar
During October and November, the Healthy Kids blog will look at this issue through the stories of former teen prescription-drug users now in recovery, their parents and local addiction-recovery experts working to treat addicted teens and help parents prevent this under-the-radar and...
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Sari Harrar

Thursday, November 8, 2012, 6:00 AM

By Sari Harrar
Prescription drugs like OxyContin, Vicodin, Ritalin and Valium are the killer new teen high. One in six teens say they’ve taken a prescription drug at least once in the past year just for kicks. One in 11 are drug-dependent and another one in five show signs of dependence, one...
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Sari Harrar

Wednesday, November 7, 2012, 6:00 AM

By Sari Harrar
Prescription drugs like OxyContin, Vicodin, Ritalin and Valium are the killer new teen high. One in six teens say they’ve taken a prescription drug at least once in the past year just for kicks. One in 11 are drug-dependent and another one in five show signs of dependence, one...
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Sari Harrar

Tuesday, November 6, 2012, 5:45 AM

By Sari Harrar
Prescription drugs like OxyContin, Vicodin, Ritalin and Valium are the killer new teen high. One in six teens say he or she has taken a prescription drug at least once in the past year. One in 11 is drug-dependent and one in five show signs of dependence, a new study says.
While kids...
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